


Those Who Care

by KatieBug1998



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst and Feels, Chronic Illness, Gen, Light Angst, Nausea, Sickfic, concerned edward elric, sister reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 12:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16040069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieBug1998/pseuds/KatieBug1998
Summary: "I wish there was something I could do for her... It's out of my hands."In which Ed's sister (y/n) is sick and he feels helpless.





	Those Who Care

Riza's the only one who knows, which wasn't on purpose. On one particularly bad day, she coincidentally followed you to the bathroom. She found you hunched over a sink, pressing a wet paper towel to your forehead in the hopes it would help with the intense nausea. You didn't notice she was there until she said your name. You looked up in the mirror to meet her concerned eyes.

"Oh, Riza," you said in tired surprise.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you sick?"

"It's nothing," you answered honestly. It wasn't anything you weren't used to.

"It doesn't look like nothing. Should I go back and get Edward?" She turned like she was going to leave.

"No. He can't –" you took a shuddering breath, "He can't help. He already knows."

"Knows what?"

You lowered your head as you felt another wave hit. "It's hard to explain..." You trailed off, opting to focus on your breathing rather than the conversation.

Riza put a hand on your back, but you pulled away; the touch only made things worse. "You should go home. I'll drive you," she offered.

You stood up then and attempted to push back the dizziness and increased nausea from the movement. "I'm really fine. It's just a little worse than normal," you admitted without thinking.

"Normal?" she repeated quietly to herself. "How about this. I can go back to the Colonel and tell him that another officer wants to see you and your brother. That way we can talk and I can take the two of your home so you can rest, and no one has to know you're sick."

Her offer was tempting, but... "No. I can stay."

Riza sighed. "Well, Edward can take care of your work so I can take you home." She was persistent. 

"I'm fine," you said again, putting emphasis on the words. You wiped your forehead once more with the paper towel, threw it away, and walked out, leaving Riza staring at the door.

When you got back, you sat down heavily next to Edward. "You okay?" he asked quietly. He could probably tell that this wasn't one of your better days.

"Fine," you told him. You looked back at your work, not that you could actually understand any of it. You'd been staring at the same page for what felt like all day. Maybe you _should_ go home.

The door opened. "Colonel?" It was Riza. "Can I steal Edward for a minute?"

"Sure thing," Mustang answered absently.

Ed got up and walked out. He didn't get back for a few minutes, but when he did, he started gathering up papers and books. "Sorry, Colonel, something came up. (y/n) and I have to go." He gathered up your papers too before you could protest.

"That's fine," Mustang said.

"We'll take our work with us. Come on, (y/n)." Ed put his hand on your shoulder, a rare gesture on his part.

You glared up at him. "Are you sure this isn't something you can do on your own?"

Everyone's attention was drawn to the two of you, clearly sensing the tension.

"Either both of us go or you go," he said, not budging. "It's up to you."

Even Mustang was looking at you curiously now.

"Al is busy, so he can't do it." You could read between the lines: no one was there to take care of you if you needed it.

You considered how you felt. You hadn't been this nauseous in a long time; you had felt on the verge of throwing up a couple times. You couldn't even really work like this. You realized this was more about your stubbornness than anything.

"Fine," you conceded. "Let's both go." You stood, again pushing down the nausea, or at least trying to ignore it. You'd rather both of you go home considering Edward would just be in Mustang's office worrying the whole time he wasn't with you. And, to be honest, he can be a big help. Distractions always managed to make things better even if it was only a little, and Edward was always there to talk to you or read to you. 

"I'll drive you," Riza said.

• • •

When you got in the back of the car next to Ed a few minutes later, you leaned your head back against the seat and focused on breathing. The short walk to the lieutenant's car had only made things worse. At that point, you just wanted to get to a bed and lay down. 

"Why didn't you tell me things were this bad?" Ed asked. His voice was a mix of concern and frustration at being kept in the dark.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," you said flatly.

"You shouldn't have to deal with it," Ed muttered. You knew how hard it had been on him, seeing you like this, and it made you feel guilty even though you couldn't control it.

Riza started driving. "I apologize for going to Edward without your permission, but I wanted to make sure he knew what was going on. Edward told me what's wrong," she said. "I'm sorry about that. You know you can always count on the team for help, especially me."

Of course, that there's nothing she or anyone else can do, but the offer was nice.

• • •

It's a random Wednesday morning not much later when Mustang says, "Go home, (y/n)."

Your eyes shoot to Riza behind him. Did she tell him? Her expression remains blank, unreadable.

He takes your papers from you and sets them on his desk. "I'm sorry?" you ask.

"If you're going to be stubborn about it, go to medical first so they can tell you. There's a flu going around, and if your fever is above 101, which I'm sure it is, you're supposed to stay at home."

You hadn't even noticed. All that seemed different this morning was that your nausea was worse, but that just happens sometimes, but now that you think about it, you do feel hot and your muscles ache. "I'm fine. I can stay." You feel just as sick as you usually do, so it doesn't matter to you.

The Colonel sighs, not even looking at you. "You can either wait here for Fullmetal to get back or you can wait for him in medical. Your choice." At your silence, he looks up and says, "This is an order from your superior officer, Major." He doesn't usually pull rank on you. He must be particularly annoyed today. And observant as well considering he noticed you were sick even before you did.

Thinking of how embarrassing it would be to stay here in front of the team after the small confrontation, you say, "I guess I'll go to medical."

"See you next week," he says, looking back down at his papers.

You don't even bother arguing.

• • •

When Ed gets back, the first thing he notices is that his sister isn't in her seat. "Where's (y/n), he asks.

"Medical," Mustang answers.

"Medical?" Ed asks. He realizes that he sounds a lot more panicked than he should be especially since Mustang's tone was so casual. "Why?" he asks, forcing himself to sound calmer.

"It seems like she has the flu," Hawkeye answers with a nod at Ed.

He understands now.

"I'm surprised you didn't notice, Fullmetal," Mustang says with a smirk. How can he joke about this? 

But what is Ed supposed to say? "She always looks sick in the morning so I didn't think about it"? Even so, he still feels bad that he didn't pick up on it. "I guess I'll go meet her in medical," he says, without rising to Mustang's bait.

"I'll go with you," Hawkeye says quickly. Mustang looks back at her quizzically. "If that's all right with you, sir," she adds. "I figured I could drive them home so (y/n) won't have to walk so far."

"Don't be gone too long."

As Ed and Hawkeye leave, a chorus of "Hope she feels better," from the team follows them.

• • •

You haven't been there long before Ed rushes in. "Shit, (y/n), you scared me," he says breathlessly. "When you weren't there, for a second I thought you had thrown up or – or passed out or something. Why didn't you wait for me?" Frustration tinges his voice.

"Everyone was looking at me weird," you say defensively.

Edward looks up at the ceiling in annoyance, shaking his head. "Why didn't you tell me this morning before I left?"

"I didn't know I was sick," you say honestly. "You know I always feel nauseous, and sometimes I feel sick. I just –"

A knock at the door interrupts you, and both you and Ed look at the door.

"I'm sorry to intrude," the doctor says. "You feel nauseous all the time?" she asks, right to the point. "Is that what you're here for?" You almost cringe; it feels wrong to have someone affiliated with the military to know. It's like a violation of your privacy.

"I do," you admit, "but that's not why I'm here. The nausea – it's no big deal. I'm used to it." You see Ed grit his teeth. He hates when you say things like that.

"Do you have a diagnosis?"

"No, but they've run every test in the book and given me every medicine. All my doctors have kind of given up on me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she echoes what Riza said when she found out. Everyone's always sorry. All the doctors, Ed when he found out, and then Al. "What are you here for today?" 

"I'm gonna go sit outside with Hawkeye," Ed says. "She's driving us back."

"Okay." Anyone else would think of it as something normal but you see it for what it is. He's upset again, over this and over you being sick with the flu and not telling him.

• • •

"Hey, Ed," Hawkeye says. "You ready to go?"

"Nah." He sits down next to her, crossing his arms, and staring straight ahead. "I just wanted to sit out here."

A minute passes before Hawkeye speaks. "How long has she been sick?"

"This or..?" What is he even supposed to call it?

"The other thing."

"Almost a year now."

Hawkeye nods. "It must be hard on you."

Ed stays silent.

"Have you thought about telling the Colonel?"

Ed laughs bitterly. "Why the hell would I tell that asshole?" He knows Hawkeye's close with Mustang but he doesn't feel like mincing his words right about now.

She's unfazed by the insult to her superior. "It seems like something he might need to know. Maybe he even has connections to some military doctors."

"Hell no." Ed cuts her off. "We've already been to so many doctors and all the tests were inconclusive. I don't want her going through that again."

"I still think you should tell him."

Ed looks at her like she's crazy.

"Not because of the doctor thing," she assures him. "Maybe if he knew, he could make things easier on her, give her less of a workload or more days off."

Ed shakes his head. "No. She'd find out and then she'd be pissed at me. And at you and Mustang. She doesn't want to seem weak," he adds quietly, looking away.

"You two know each other pretty well, huh?"

Ed smiles slightly. "Yeah." He sits in silence for a few minutes, trying to decide if this is something he wants to confide in Hawkeye. Finally, he gives up. "I just... I wish there was something I could do for her. It's like searching for the Philosopher's Stone, but this isn't alchemy. It's out of my hands. All I can do is take her to see doctors and even they don't know what to do."

"You're doing everything you can, and that's all that matters," she assures him. "Even if you don't have the answers, I'm sure she appreciates you being there for her."

• • •

When you walk out into the hallway, and Ed sees you, he gets up quickly. "Ready?" he asks. He doesn't seem as mad as before which makes you wonder what he and Riza talked about while you were gone.

"Yeah." You hold out a slip of paper to Riza. "Will you take this to Mustang later? It's a note excusing me until Monday."

Riza takes the note from you with a kind smile. "Of course."

"Let's get you home," Ed says with a lighter tone than before.

"You should stay here. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but you don't have to."

You both smile at each other. Ed can be overbearing sometimes, but at least he's there and you can always count on him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Does anyone want a second chapter? It would most likely be a day-in-the-life type thing where Ed is taking care of the reader when she's particularly sick.


End file.
